"This is one of those albums which goes on forever, but with the pleasant companionship of days passing and the changes of the quality of light and temperature on one side, and the intensity of a nightmare storm battering on the other. The title is German for Keep Cool, and the long slow unwind of electronic tones is certainly chilled out to a specific degree of mellowness - at least at first it is. The circling high pitches of "Ruhig Blut A" take their twenty minutes (one side of the vinyl edition) to swap stereo channels, swooping and diving through the sound picture with tranquil ease as teensy synth pulsations make their entrance and meander in concert with sundry squeaks and gentle sputters. Calmness is acheived. Rhythms are hinted at, pass though almost imperceptible bass phases; calmness never quite fades, just is...

The second side is anything but calm. "Ruhig Blut B" presents the beat of effects units intermeshing on the dubwise Electro-Autobahn, stepping the mood up through several slow gear stages into the hypnotic plasma generated by phase, flange and delay. The sparse electronic progression soon becomes overwhelming while remaining true to the minimalist ideal, churning and writhing along the route. There's a trebly inevitabilty to the gradual transformation on the basic rhythm; mid-range incursions make for a deeper sound, and when the distending groans kick in, listeners would be advised to hang onto their lunch as things begin to get turbulent. Still, underneath it all, the structure remains something to cling on to, and it's defintiely of benefit under what becomes an endurance test; like a rollercoaster but without the need for all that tedious mucking about actually defying gravity - and one with breath-taking gaps and power surges for extra discomfort just when it all seems to get bearable. The closest piece of repetetive electronic churning this intense is probably to be found courtesy of "Tunnel Of Goats" on Coil's gargantuan gut-wrencher Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil, if that gives any idea quite how monolithic the noisescape becomes.

Fortunately for the CD edition, it has a nicely quiet outro, "Schlaf Gut" ("Sleep Well") to calm things down as a bonus track. Everyone else will just have to pick themselves up from the floor immediately in search of tranquilty, or failing that, keep having a nice long lie down to recover."

"This is one of those albums which goes on forever, but with the pleasant companionship of days passing and the changes of the quality of light and temperature on one side, and the intensity of a nightmare storm battering on the other. The title is German for Keep Cool, and the long slow unwind of electronic tones is certainly chilled out to a specific degree of mellowness - at least at first it is. The circling high pitches of "Ruhig Blut A" take their twenty minutes (one side of the vinyl edition) to swap stereo channels, swooping and diving through the sound picture with tranquil ease as teensy synth pulsations make their entrance and meander in concert with sundry squeaks and gentle sputters. Calmness is acheived. Rhythms are hinted at, pass though almost imperceptible bass phases; calmness never quite fades, just is...

The second side is anything but calm. "Ruhig Blut B" presents the beat of effects units intermeshing on the dubwise Electro-Autobahn, stepping the mood up through several slow gear stages into the hypnotic plasma generated by phase, flange and delay. The sparse electronic progression soon becomes overwhelming while remaining true to the minimalist ideal, churning and writhing along the route. There's a trebly inevitabilty to the gradual transformation on the basic rhythm; mid-range incursions make for a deeper sound, and when the distending groans kick in, listeners would be advised to hang onto their lunch as things begin to get turbulent. Still, underneath it all, the structure remains something to cling on to, and it's defintiely of benefit under what becomes an endurance test; like a rollercoaster but without the need for all that tedious mucking about actually defying gravity - and one with breath-taking gaps and power surges for extra discomfort just when it all seems to get bearable. The closest piece of repetetive electronic churning this intense is probably to be found courtesy of "Tunnel Of Goats" on Coil's gargantuan gut-wrencher Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil, if that gives any idea quite how monolithic the noisescape becomes.

Fortunately for the CD edition, it has a nicely quiet outro, "Schlaf Gut" ("Sleep Well") to calm things down as a bonus track. Everyone else will just have to pick themselves up from the floor immediately in search of tranquilty, or failing that, keep having a nice long lie down to recover."

I'm guessing a fair few people have already mentioned these - but I'm too tired to read all the other posts (awful, I know!), but:
Phill Niblock
LaMonte Young (those two were big pioneers in drone)
Earth (Dylan Carlson is a genius. Most people seem to prefer Earth 2, but personally I rate Broken Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars, especially the first track).

For more Sonic Youth orientated stuff try:
Lee Ranaldo's 'Amarillo Ramp' for Robert Smithson album - the title track is 30 minutes of beautiful noise.
Also, Jim O'Rourke has a few good ones - mostly recently you should check out Mizu No Nai Umi on the Headz label. That's pretty special.

I would add these to the list:"The Sadness Of Things" by Steven Stapleton and David Tibet

I hate labeling music because it's so hard for me to understand / remember which groups / albums go where. I see where Mr. Savage mentioned, 'The Sadness Of Things.' This is a great listen and well worth your time and money. I would also like to recommend the following:

NURSE WITH WOUND - Soliloquy For LilithCOSEY FANNI TUTTI - Time To Tell

'Time To Tell' also has an ambient remix companion that came out with the re-issue. I'm not sure if ambient and drone should be considered the same thing, but if you enjoy 'The Sadness Of Things,' I know you will enjoy the two I've mentioned here.